The Seventh Starlink mission for SpaceX is in the books officially marking the 84th Falcon 9 launch. The next mission that will come out of this hangar will be DM-2 NET May 27. Catch up with @NASASpaceflight! Replay: youtu.be/TvYjFNEPeSgForum: forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topi…
Tracking indicates that Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief are leaving the recovery zone.No attempt was made to catch the fairing today, they planned to scoop halves from the water.Sometimes Elon will tweet photos, otherwise, we will have to wait for their return to see how they got on.
Tracking maps indicate that Of Course I Still Love You droneship and the recovery fleet are now leaving the landing zone.
Update! Fleet is moving incredibly slowly - between 1-2 knots, having only traveled about 40kmPossibilities include that they're drifting as they continue to work on OCISLY or battling forecasted bad weather that forced SpaceX to move launch Difficult to know so don't assume!
...as for the fairing catchers...They are powering ahead and passed the droneship team at about 1am EDT. ETA is difficult to predict as speed is variable but looks like an arrival between 12am - 7am EDT overnight tonightMore to follow later.
Fill 'er up!Falcon 9 likes its liquid oxygen *super* chill (-340°F 🥶), so fueling doesn't start until 35 minutes before launch. Once the tanks are topped off, you see the strongback retract in preparation for launch. #Starlink
Fleet Update!Ms . Tree and Ms. Chief are halfway through their journey to Port Canaveral. ETA is difficult to predict as speed is varying. Best guess would be sometime after 4am EST tomorrow morning. OCISLY is progressing well. A broad ETA is for Saturday morning.
Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief have made very little progress in the last few hours and are still over 200km from Port Canaveral. They're moving slowly and caught up in rough seas. ETA not known because of the poor condition.
After a slow crawl throughout the night, the fairing catchers have picked up some speed again.If they can keep this pace, they'll be arriving at Port Canaveral mid-afternoon today.
The weather in the area is fantastically terrible so this turn of speed was a surprise. They've been cruising along at 12 - 13 knots for the last two hours. Even if they make it back for this afternoon, they may not be let into Port Canaveral til the weather improves.
The #SpaceXFleet is now maneuvering the weather and most likely riding some swells. The skies in the Merritt Island/Port Canaveral area remain grey, windy and full of drizzle. I am hoping to see the catchers make it back later tonight. OCISLY will be harder to predict for a while
Arrival! Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief have returned to Port Canaveral.There is definitely a fairing haf onboard each ship. Higher quality photos to follow shortly where we can assess the condition of the fairing.
https://twitter.com/spacexfleet/status/1253780830415196164QuoteArrival! Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief have returned to Port Canaveral.There is definitely a fairing haf onboard each ship. Higher quality photos to follow shortly where we can assess the condition of the fairing.
Ms. Chief and her fairing half
Both halves look good, here is Ms. Tree. Chief photos next.
OCISLY is about halfway through the journey home. The droneship and accompanying support ships have been slowly progressing through very rough seas.Saturday is now not-possible and I'm hearing that they are tentatively targeting arrival on Sunday morning - weather permitting.
"There they are!"After battling rough seas, #SpaceXFleet returns to a rainy and grateful @PortCanaveral. OCISLY trails behind, expected to arrive ~Sunday. Listen to those ambisonic raindrops 🎤x4 =🌧️ http://cosmicperspective.com/starlink
This morning GO Ms. Chief and GO Ms. Tree offloaded the fairing halves that each recovered from the Atlantic with their scoop nets. This marks the second time this fairing set has been recovered by #SpaceXFleet recovery teams with the first flight being AMOS-17. #Starlink
OCISLY will be within the vicinity of Port Canaveral in the early hours of tomorrow morning.B1051.4 and OCISLY are expected to enter Port Canaveral between 7:30 - 8:30am EDT tomorrow morning (Sunday 26th).
